You as an individual have a set of skills particular to you. These skills are like a toolbox filled with tools. You can use them to work on, repair, and build many different things.

But just because a plumber has a pipe wrench, doesn’t mean he is the best fitted (see what I did there??) to go wrenching on a fire sprinkler system. Just because the electrician has a ladder doesn’t make him the best person to paint ceilings.

You see, everyone has a particular set of skills or tools. But more importantly the ones with the most success are those who know how to use their skills in a particular niche. The same goes for real estate investors.

For those of you who are starting out, and those who remember when you were just starting, understanding this toolbox analogy is important. Sure, each of you have the ability to buy a single family home, or wholesale deals to other investors, or even syndicate apartment buildings. But where is your niche? There are so many ways to make money with real estate. It’s hard to be great at multiple, and impossible to be great at every way. So where is your niche?

Warren Buffet famously said ” Diversification is protection against ignorance. It makes little sense if you know what you are doing.”

What did Warren Buffet mean by this? The point of diversifying is to have losses offset by gains in other areas. However, the opposite is also true. Gains are offset losses.

So what does all of this mean? What’s the point I’m making? Simple! Find your niche and excel at it. Become the best you can be. Develop all the skills required to be the best. Learn from the best. Surround yourself with the best. Soon enough, you’ll be the best.